Chapter 36:

**Three Weeks Later**

"Hey Bec," Jesse shook me. "Beca wake up." I groaned.

"Whaaaat," I scoffed.

"Happy birthday!" he sat up. Oh yeah, today's the day. The day I turn 22. We were in the Bellas house yesterday and I guess we fell asleep. I didn't bother lifting my head up. "Come on, wake up!" he shook me again.

"No," I did an ongoing groan. He used his strength to flip me over so I was facing him. He tackled my lips in a kiss. He slid his tongue in which made me accidently let out a small moan. He slowly pulled away and smiled. "Okay, I'm up!" I confessed.

"Shawshank!" Amy came bursting in my door with the rest of the Bellas.

"Sorry if we interrupted birthday sex," Jessica joked.

"Jess, they can't have sex for three more weeks, remember?" Stacie said.

"Right, I'm sure they've listened to the doctor."

"Have you?" she asked.

"Of course, I want Beca to be better as soon as possible!" Jesse exclaimed. Stacie took out her phone and hit play on an unknown song. Tell me she's not… great. They all started singing Taylor Swift's '22,' a cappella version. Just what I needed to wake me up. Jesse couldn't stop smiling.

"Don't you dare-" I started, but he cut me off with joining into their singing. When they finished, they looked at me and motioned for me to follow.

"Everyone will be here in three hours, shorty! The part starts at five," Jesse walked back over to me and grabbed my hand as the girls walked out.

"I need to get dressed first. And did I really sleep until two?" I asked him.

"Yes. I've been waiting for a while," he replied.

"Why didn't you wake me up?"

"It's your birthday. How does your hand feel?"

"A little better. It still hurts when I try to pick things up though," I sighed. "What should I wear? And what did they mean by 'everyone?'"

"Your new friends, two of your old friends.."

"My old friends? I don't want anything to do with them!"

"We just scrolled through your contact list and invited everyone except your family. Well, we accidently told your step grandmother, but she seemed confused and told us she would bring tequila and her bikini and meet us in Honolulu. Is she okay?"

"No, something's terribly wrong with her. The doctors don't even get it," I explained. "Sometimes she's fun to talk to her because she says a bunch of random shit and jokes on Sheila."

"Well I see why she's fun to talk to. But the majority is the Bellas and Trebles. Wear this," he pointed to a grey cut-up t-shirt that hung over a red tank top. I had worn that the first day we met. That's only if Jesse serenading me in his car then awkwardly falling back as the car accelerated while I was being lectured by a preppy guide counts as 'meeting.' I took the tank top and slipped it on after taking off my shirt that I slept in. I threw on some shorts and went into my bathroom. Jesse followed me and watched intently as I did my makeup.

"What? Did you want me to do yours?" I laughed.

"No! It's just fun to watch." I closed my mascara and walked out of the room, Jesse at my heels. "Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Beca, happy birthday to you," he quietly sang over and over again until we got downstairs.

"There's the birthday girl!" Erica said as if she were a mother of a ten year old. There were bags of chips yet to be poured into bowls and drinks in the cooler waiting to be taken out. "People will probably start arriving around 4:30, knowing people these days. In the meantime, we still have work to do."

Sorry this is short. I have to sleep early because school starts Tuesday. Ew. Please leave a review! I'll try to update as often as possible with school and all.